chuck411

actually I don’t believe 18 seconds was too long of a wait since that the proven physics says that FF's going out first followed by RW's causes dangerous close opening windows due to RW drift vs FF drift. If the time I extended to allow a safer separation caused the jumpers behind me to be a bit long on the spot then there should be a go around. no? Nope we were second out and jump run that entire day was ify. In fact 2 passes became the norm that day. I have an issue with this statement on a personal level. I believe its difficult to maintains others safety if your safety is compromised in doing so. However...In my life I have often been in situations where I have abandoned My safety to ensure others Safety. From doing Executive Protection, to Army service. to being in situations in real life b4 I was even trained to be a bullet Catcher where there has been gun fire and I without worrying about me have made sure that others were safe b4 taking action to secure my own safety. now the dilemma arises of do as I say not as I do.... LOL I have instructed others under my command that they should do the exact opposite of what it is I do, Have done , or will do in those types of situations. I accept the risks involved in those situations and if my life is the cost of others saving their lives then I'm comfortable with that. As far as finding Balance I do not have the answer to that but will always work towards learning and finding that balance. As far as the bit about If those guidelines are not sound and safe in my eyes then I guess it would be time for me to move on don’t you think? *Edited for Spelling and content*

Im saying that when I as told that I should wait for a 45 from the group ahead of me, knowing that they will never get to a 45 I continued my count as normal even when it was pointed out that they had reached a 45 in thier eyes,(the JM). I was not comfortable with the seperation we would have had or the lack there of. yes I had been out of the sport for a long time but my eyes and my brian still work just fine:) If I am not comfortable then I am not jumping. Been there done that against my gut and better judgement and am lucky to be alive. (Refering to not following my gut and better judgement) If it was brought up to me why I took so long to get out and jump then I would have explained to the best of my abilty why I made the decisions I made. If it was then problem with the DZ or JM then I simply would move on to safer more comfortable pastures. :)

LOL ok On the jump I was refering to it was about 18 seconds time from thier feet leaving to mine leaving and the Arch was right out the door on that one The other jump I was first out with the JM since the rest of the plane was all Tandems:)

My wife has a damn evil time with alti's... LOL she had worn many different alti's and she seems to more times than not have an issue with whatever Alti she is wearing sticking at around 1000 feet. so she learned real quick to trust her eyes and not the alti:)

My wife and I just returned to the life after a 3.5 year break due to life issues. We contacted a DZ and explained our past exp why we were gone so long and what our basic expectations were. They replied with come on out and lets see whats what. We arrived and I was taken into a room and briefed and was asked questions. some of which I didnt answer to the I's liking or just had simply not remembered the correct answer. We went over the slightly sckechy parts in detail. Talked and demonstrated basic body and movement postures and in about 45 mins were in the plane and failing my first jump horribly. LOL I was waffeling like a mad man LOL. Took a long time for me to get flat and stable then made a few turns and started to remember what I was doing lol. As soon as my feet touched ground I walked over to the JM and said can we please redo that jump to which he replied "Oh yeah we are." I did my second jump, Nailed the exit which I had blown b4, got flat and stable did my 360"s, flips, and track and had a blast. then asked for some coch jumps after as I knew I needed alot of work b4 I would feel safe enough to jump with others again. That was me.. My wife on the other hand is having all kinds of issues lol. She was taught one way and forgot bits of it, but as she was being retrained remembered what she was taught years prior and has a hard time adapting to the new rules and training methods. Shes trying but its taking her longer to regain what she had. She's a bit stuborn but wants to relearn what shes forgotten. but training is different now than it was prior to the ISP and just those changes alone make it interesting. I guess being in the sport for some time b4 our break helped me to understand how bad I was when returning. I did think I would jump Nail the exit and do the tasks at hand without fail but was sure it wouldnt be pretty. I did not expect to Fail the first try though and that for me was a great eye opener. My wife truely believed she would just go do a recert jump and be ok. Well that isnt whats happening there either LOL. Shes making progress and will continue to do so. I guess my point is everyone is different in what they expect when returning from a long break in this sport and you may have had a Kick Ass Jump on your last but with the long break reality should take over and slap the crap otta you and say hey you need work! and you being the slappie should say hey F U Reality your right! LOL Added info I had 295 jumps and a D lic when the break started. The wife had 40 something and an A lic...... I have since been reading like a Crazy man the 2007Sim and the 2007IRM and am just a nut about seeking more info.

"You can lead a horse to water, but you cant make him drink" You have several choices from my point of view. I was recently at a DZ where they preached the 45 rule and as I was doing recurrancy training I just did as I was told however......When it was suggested that the peeps b4 were at 45 I continued my counting in my head so as to make sure the space between us was safer for me. Since I was the one initiating the climbout and count I had control over when I jumped. :) I gave a FF trio about 18 seconds from the time they left to the time I started my arch:) They can scream at ya, but they cant make ya do what they want unless you allow it. If they are giving you grief about it then you always have the option to find a new place to jump. you may have to drive farther but hey atleast you will feel safer and more comfortable. However I would try and explain to the DZ why it is you are leaving. not in a Fuck you tone but in a clear even manner. maybe if they hear the same type of feedback from jumpers who are leaving they will think maybe they have a point...Maybe they will still not like it but change.. Maybe they will tell you Fuck Off. But atleast you tried to make things better. Do what you have to do and when faced with the stone wall mentality of the 45 rule sometimes it is just best to move on to safer, more comfortable pastures. "A Good leader knows how and when to lead but also knows how and when to follow"

LOL you know in the US ARMY.... Your Training jumps are only at like 1200 feet AGL. When yu get to your Unit as a Qualified jumper you then start jumping in most sane units at 800 feet AGL...then there was my unit who loved to jump as if it were REAL COMBAT more than half the time on FT Bragg and Loved to put us out at like 500... Still dunno why they made us even strap those reserves on our bellies LOL... Now anyone feel free to correct me here as I am stating what was done in the 503rd MP BN in the early 90's on Ft Bragg.. Paratrooper in the Us Army is a Far Cry from Halo type jumps. Your Standard Paratrooper is jumping low alt on a static line. However Back to the topic... My Favorite is when they ask what does it feel like in the rain? And of course my Reply is..."Its Horrible, i mean yout hitting the pointy end of the rain drop and it hurts!" most go "Oh yeah thats right your above the Rain Drops and you would get the pointy end!" I usually Walk away then:)

goto this page http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1387145 Third post down says Hope that helps:)

I used to have a similar problem. but I think mine may have been worse than your case. Not only did it mess with my nose but I also have the added joy of causing double ear infections... My main sinus issue was dealt with via an operation that fixed a number of issues I had in my Sinus Cavity. I believe what they did was fixed my deviated septum and somethng called a turbinate(SP?) reduction. Which basically they reduced the size of the little dealy-O's that create the mucus responce in your sinus and cuases the dripping and draining. so my sinus is great now but I still have issues with my ears but for me that gets better with the more jumps I make as is seems to me it stretches out something lol and makes it easier to deal with:)

oh and BTW I'll be selling my cobalt 135 soon... not because I dont like it but Im going back to something in the 170-190 range:) I wanna go Fast in freefall not under Canopy anymore:)

wow.... I can honestly say I have NEVER had a slammer with My Cobalt 135...EVER... Infact It scares me due to what seems like an abnormly long snivel... I weight about 200lbs and it flat out scared the crap outta me a few times until I learned what I was doing wrong and changed a few things in my deployment... Like Dumping in a track always was nice in that canopy as I would get a maybe 800 foot opening that way:) as opposed to several 2K openings LOL... And I broke t5-7 in my back when I was in the Army so I dont want anything remotley near a slammer opening or for that matter what some might refer to as a "Brisk Opening" :) And I packed that thing so many different ways it was nuts... Hell I had a few pack jobs where I thought "Maybe this crap errr I mean pack job will be my first chop". seems Im still waiting for my first chop... I hated to pack BTW lol and sometimes it showed in the crap I shoved into my bag lol than I got smacked around by some Rigger friends who got me on the right packing track:).....

LMFAO Now that would be fun!

yuh it is awesome to have someone who you can jump with and know that they wont rag on ya for hosing the exit:) My Wife also doesnt jump as much as I do but she a bit more picky about the weather and who's jumping:) such as if it isnt warm on the ground she aint going up! lol Me on the other hand used to jump in NC when the weather was in the high 20-low 30's on the ground lol woohoooooo

hey Gratz and Welcome:) My wife sat on the ground watching as I went through my AFF. Before I went up for my level 6 I signed her up for a tandem... LOL so My friends walked up to her and said so you wanna skydive.... The whole time I was training she was talking how there was no way! Then when they ask she says HELL YEAH!. 20 mins later she on the load with me while im doing my level 6:) she did 1 more tandem a bit later then started in on AFF... Shes hooked as well:) only down side is I only get half as many jumps since she started:) but we are Happy in the sky together:) Cheers and Blue Skys to ya:)

yup still 3 hours:( and thanx:)

according to the 2007 IRM I just got a couple weeks ago from USPA it states in the Tandem Instructors Rating Course Chapter 1, Section A, Bullet 4 You can also see this info at http://www.uspa.org/publications/manuals.pdf/2007IRMEssentials.pdf page 24 of 30

I know im a bit late on this but just at the beginning of this month I met a Skydiver who Im pretty sure stated he had CP and has over 170+ Skydives... All of which are Tandems. He owns his own Harness which has been tacked just to fit him and well He Loves it and I was just completely inspired buy this cat. He seems to have limited use of Legs and walks with the aid of forarm crutches. Man he loves the sport and the big deal with him on the DZ was seeing which Tandem Instructor could land closest to his Crutches which he leaves on the DZ when they help him board the plane.

Well hello everyone. I started jumping in the army under rounds then got hurt on a crotchrocket and was retired in 95. In 01 I went out to Zhills and started there AFF program and jumped nonstop for like 2 months and racked up my first 100. Then money slowed down and life started getting in the way. In nov of 03 I had jump #292 and hadnt jumped again until this month due to Cash, Moving to the oregon coast 3hours from the closest DZ and Crappy Weather. My wife Rosy and I are jumping again and so here I am:) Nice to meet yall and Blue Sky to ya all:) Chuck Btw Rosy has 40+ jumps and is struggling to get back to stable flight. She even had a nice tree landing the day after her B-Day LOL... I say LOL cuz she was unhurt other than pride and she Learned a Valuable lesson....Know where the DZ is! and Plan for your Landing higher! But I can tell you this she will be receiving a new baby tree every year for her B-Day from here on out! :)